Ghost Recon: Future Soldier to include Horde mode

At one point it seemed like Ghost Recon: Future Soldier was the game that "wasn't meant to be." The first gameplay unveil revealed atrocious (okay, maybe a little harsh, but it wasn't impressive whatsoever) graphics and an engine that wasn't up to today's standards. So, Ubisoft went back to the drawing boards, delaying the game numerous times, and finally clocked in a solid release window, along with a seemingly solid game. The Official Xbox Magazine recently sat down with the game and played through its new "Guerrilla mode," which takes after Gears of War 3's Horde mode.

According to OXM, Guerrilla mode plays as a clone of EPIC's third-person shooter, but given Horde mode's success, that's not a bad thing. Players will work their way through 50 waves of enemies. As players reach higher waves, enemies will progressively grow stronger and more capable of killing you. Every tenth wave players will face a "boss round," which includes some of the game's most armored enemies. Unlike ​Gears of War's ​Horde mode, players' base in Guerrilla mode will move to a different part of the map every 10 waves whether you like it or not, adding more frantic gameplay.

OXM commented further on the mode:

Even more so than in Gears, it’s a good idea to stick to the buddy system, as it becomes even harder to revive fallen friends in Future Soldier because the bullets are so much more lethal. Indeed, just a couple of rounds from the wrong end of a gun are enough to knock you out of commission. Fortunately, though, you’ll earn Wave Bonuses the longer you survive – single-use abilities that come in great handy during the headier battles. Radar extends the range of your foe-finding gear, while invisibility lets you use your stealthy camouflage even while standing up and running. Missile lets you guide a rocket from above down onto the target of your choice – we saved ours for a boss wave and took out an APC and all of its fleshy contents – while a defense turret helps keep bad guys out of your base and the ultimate air strike will carpet bomb a designated area.

Between rounds you’ll be able to restock ammo and grab a new weapon via air-dropped crates. Fortunately, better guns become available as the opposing force gets tougher. All told, our initial impression is that it’s much slower and more deliberate than Gears’ Horde, though we’d expect that from a Ghost Recon game. It’s also arguably more cerebral, as attacks must be carefully coordinated as enemies all begin to funnel towards your team base, pinching you and your friends into a progressively tighter spot. Also worth noting is that, like Halo 3: ODST’s Firefight mode, matchmaking will not be supported over Xbox Live. Instead, Guerrilla mode is only playable online with those on your Friends list.